The Fallen City
by QueenLF
Summary: A short story in honour of the Christchurch Earthquake, three years ago today. Kia kaha Christchurch.


It was a normal Summer Tuesday  
In the Garden City.

She sat at an outside table  
in the CBD,  
enjoying the luxury  
that was her lunch break.

The cafe  
was her favourite spot  
during summer.

The birds  
flittered about  
singing their songs,  
while the garden  
out the front  
was filled to bursting  
with lavenders.

After the first quake,  
her parents had insisted  
that she come and live with them.  
They were  
getting old,  
and the stress  
of the tremors  
was getting too much for them.  
So, she packed up her things,  
and left her home  
and teaching job  
in Wellington  
to become  
a teacher's aid  
at a local primary school.

She soaked up  
the sun  
as she sipped  
her English Earl Grey  
and got ready  
to head back.

She stood  
and picked up her bag  
from it's hanging place  
on the back of  
her metal chair.

It was then  
that she heard the roar  
that anyone  
could've been forgiven  
for mistaking  
with that  
of a lion.

It was the earth,  
which began  
shaking violently,  
knocking her feet  
from under her  
and sending her arms  
skidding across the concrete,  
spidering them  
with grazes.

She stayed down,  
watching her city  
crumble around her.  
She saw people  
falling,  
screaming,  
crying,  
as a large shop  
across the street  
came tumbling down.  
People  
whipped out their phones,  
filming the carnage.

She couldn't believe  
that it was happening again.

The shaking stopped.  
Only the sound  
of car alarms  
and disturbed animals  
breaking the now  
uneasily still air.

A man bolted  
across the street  
and began clawing  
at the concrete rubble,  
moving as many  
chunks of cement  
as he could manage,  
only one word  
leaving his mouth.  
"Josie",  
in the form  
of a desperate yell.

She then remembered  
a girl  
in one of  
her classes  
whose name was Josie.  
Her eyes burnt  
as much as her skin,  
when she remembered  
after taking the role  
that morning  
that Josie  
had gone out  
with her parents  
today.  
What had happened  
to her?  
What had happened  
to the kids  
at school?  
What had happened  
to her parents?  
It was then  
that she fully realized  
that another quake  
had struck,  
and the city  
that had barely survived  
the last one  
was now  
crumbling  
to the ground.

Screams  
broke the air  
once again,  
followed by  
a dull rumbling.  
She got to her feet  
and rounded the corner  
just in time  
to see the CTV building  
pancake downward.  
People ran  
from the dust  
that the building caused.  
Only seconds  
after it cleared,  
people flocked  
towards the rubble,  
chucking back rocks  
while screaming for survivors  
to make her presence known.  
That was the kiwi spirit,  
risking your own life  
to save that of a stranger.

She fell  
to her knees,  
her face  
in her hands  
as her home city  
fell to rubble.  
She began to cry.  
It was all  
that she knew to do  
now that her city  
was shattered.

After several minutes  
of sobbing,  
she got to her feet.  
There was glass  
in her knees  
from the windows  
that had broken.

She began to walk  
In the direction  
of her home.  
She finally  
got there  
and released a breath  
when she saw  
that her childhood home  
was still standing.

With shaking hands  
she opened the front door,  
and was nearly  
knocked over  
when her retiree parents  
embraced her.

"We were so worried, "  
Her mother sobbed,  
stroking the back  
of her head.  
She released another  
shaky breath,  
before releasing  
the tears  
that she'd been holding in  
the entire journey  
to her house.  
Christchurch was in ruin.

-3 years later-

The candle in her palms  
was a small white one.

It's flame flickered  
with the cool night breeze.  
The church was holding  
a vigil, for those lost  
in the earthquake  
that changed their city  
forever,  
each victim  
having ten candles.  
The church was still mourning  
the loss of the cathedral,  
but the cardboard stand-in  
had served a treat.  
She stared at the names,  
nearly two hundred,  
listed on the memorial,  
and her mind  
dragged back to that day  
three years ago,  
as it had  
whenever she closed her eyes,  
with the scars on her arms  
serving as a reminder  
of the horror  
that the earth unleashed  
on that day.  
She stared at  
the other candles  
already set  
in front of the photos  
of those now passed.

Gone, but not forgotten.  
She bit down  
on her lower lip  
as she set  
the candle down  
in front of the photo  
of Josie.

* * *

**AN: In honour of those who lost everything three years ago the 22nd of February, 2011, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. 185 people were killed and thousands of buildings were damaged in an event that shaped our country forever.  
All characters are fictitious but based on true events. The CTV (Canterbury Television) building was the main killer when it collapsed. The cardboard cathedral is legit, Google it if you don't believe me.**

**Things are getting better, but the scars still run deep for the entire country. Kia kaha Christchurch. You'll be safe in the end.**


End file.
